Components of swot analysis. Strengths and Weaknesses of a SWOT Analysis: Useful Guidelines for Conducting

Starting a business is hard work. It is necessary to pay attention to this large number little things that you can simply get lost in them.

The only way to ensure that your business will last is to periodically step back from it and look at things from a broader perspective.

This is what SWOT analysis is all about. A SWOT analysis will allow you to look at the potential of your online business. You will not only study how your company works today, but you will also be able to plan its development for the next week, month and even year.

What is SWOT analysis?

SWOT analysis sounds like the name of some scary accounting process. But that's not true. SWOT analysis is not complex, but it is very useful.

The abbreviation SWOT stands for:

  • S – Strengths
  • W – Weaknesses ( weaknesses)
  • O – Opportunities
  • T – Threats

This is a list of what needs to be assessed during the analysis. A SWOT analysis forces you to think about the future. Do you know how your business works today, but have no idea what will happen to it tomorrow? A SWOT analysis will allow you to understand this and plan your development process.

A SWOT analysis shows the strengths and weaknesses of your online business, from both an internal and external perspective.

Strengths and weaknesses are internal factors, while opportunities and threats are external. Internal factors relate directly to your business, while external factors concern the environment that surrounds it.

Strengths and weaknesses provide insight into the present state of affairs, while opportunities and threats focus on the future. What is happening and what could happen.

The strengths and weaknesses in a SWOT analysis are under your control. They can be changed over time.

For example:

  • company culture
  • reputation
  • client list
  • geography
  • employees
  • partnerships
  • intellectual property
  • assets

Conversely, the opportunities and threats of a SWOT analysis are usually beyond your control. You can try and plan for them or influence positive changes, but at the end of the day it is not up to you.

For example:

  • regulation
  • suppliers
  • competitors
  • economy
  • market size
  • trends
  • financing

Why do you need a SWOT analysis?

In any online business, both new and old, it is necessary to conduct a SWOT analysis.

Whether you're just starting a business or are still in the planning stages, a SWOT analysis will give you a competitive advantage. Completing it will allow you to conduct a break-even analysis and see a more realistic picture of the entire process. Both are necessary in order to obtain funding.

Existing businesses should conduct a SWOT analysis annually. This will allow you to keep your business running smoothly, anticipate problems, work on necessary changes or improvements, and make smarter decisions throughout the year. Basically, an annual SWOT analysis will prevent you from losing touch with your business, customers and production.

How to do a SWOT analysis?

There is no objective way to measure how well you perform a SWOT analysis. It depends on your ability to notice and remember the internal and external factors that may affect your business. SWOT analysis is needed not to make accurate predictions, but to correctly plan business development.

Step 1: Gather the right people

Although important business decisions should generally be made by the founders and managers of the company, a SWOT analysis requires the participation of as many employees as possible. Having more data, even from people who don't fully understand your business, will make your planning even more accurate.

You'll also find that many employees have good ideas and useful skills. Even your customers can provide valuable information.

Step 2. Brainstorm

Once you have your team together, organize a brainstorming session with everyone involved. You can either list strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats together (for smaller teams) or ask participants to create corresponding lists separately (for larger teams).

Consider everything that falls into each category. At this point, don't worry about how important each observation is. The idea is to not miss anything. Just write it all down.

Step 3: Fill in the blanks

Once you've exhausted all the ideas and written four big lists, it's time to start filling in the blanks where more explanation is needed. This is an opportunity for you and your team to ask questions that will determine how important each item on the list is.

Ask everyone in the group to choose the three most important items on each of their lists. There will likely be a pattern that will show you what to focus on.

Even if you are working on the analysis alone, don't worry. In this case, you are involved in all parts of the business and should have a good understanding of what needs to be considered.

31 Example Questions for Conducting a Strategic SWOT Analysis

Whether you're working alone or in a group, starting a brainstorming session can be challenging. The following questions will help you move forward. We recommend asking yourself these questions so you don't miss important factors to consider.

Questions to identify strengths in SWOT analysis

These are positive internal factors that influence the performance of your business. Although they may be difficult to change, they should be under your control:

  • What are we good at?
  • What do we do better than anyone else?
  • What is our competitive advantage?
  • What do we do that no one else does?
  • What resources are at our disposal?
  • What are the advantages of our online business?
  • What benefits do our employees have?
  • What valuable assets does our company have?
  • What do our clients like about us?

How to determine weaknesses when analyzing

These are negative internal factors that affect the performance of your business. Although they may be difficult to change, they should be under your control:

  • What are we doing wrong?
  • What are our competitors better than us at?
  • What complaints do our customers have?
  • What are our team's weaknesses?
  • What's holding us back?
  • What resources do we lack?
  • What can we improve?

Examples of analysis questions opportunities

These are external factors that can affect your business in a positive way. They may be largely out of your control, but you can use them:

  • What potential regulatory changes could help our business?
  • Are market trends favorable to us?
  • Can the current economy affect us in a positive way?
  • What possibilities haven't we considered yet?
  • What new features are becoming available?
  • Are the prices of our goods decreasing?
  • Can we acquire additional resources that we lack?

Questions to consider threats in SWOT analysis

These are external factors that can negatively impact your business. These may be largely out of your control, but you can take them into account to minimize the damage:

  • Who is our competitor?
  • What new market participants could threaten our business?
  • Is our market size shrinking?
  • Could industry trends negatively impact our business?
  • Is the cost of our goods increasing?
  • Are our partners' offers sufficient for us?
  • Are the rules changing that could harm our business?
  • Is our manufacturer reliable?

How to effectively use the results of a SWOT analysis

As a business owner, you constantly need to decide where to focus your attention. Tough resource allocation decisions are inevitable. No matter how successful you are, you always need to choose where to direct your attention. A SWOT analysis will help you determine which areas you need to focus your energy and resources on.

Step 4: Narrow down your lists

Take the lists you created during your brainstorming session. Now work on shrinking these lists so they can fit in a table on one page (like the example below). Narrow down lists based on two assumptions: how important the factor is and how likely it is.

For example, if you get the bulk of your income from one large client, this is a big weakness that leaves you in a vulnerable position, even if you are confident that this client will not leave you.

Even when you have created a table like the example below, save your lists. You're not going to focus on factors that aren't included in the table right now, but you can be sure that you won't miss any important issues if the situation changes. What is less important now may become critical in the future, and you should be aware of this possibility. You can always change the list and come back to it later.

Step 5: Create Strategies

For each of the factors on your shortlist, create a strategy to take advantage of the strengths and opportunities and to address the weaknesses and threats. These initial strategies don't need to be particularly complex or foolproof, although you can refine them later. For now, just create an action plan.

Also, keep in mind that different factors can work together to balance each other out. How can you use your strengths to eliminate your weaknesses? How can you take advantage of opportunities to neutralize threats? Can you use your strengths to better seize opportunities? Do you have any weaknesses that might prevent you from preventing the threat?

Example of a SWOT analysis table

Below is an example of a SWOT analysis table for an online T-shirt store. Although many other factors emerged during the brainstorming session, these were the most important.

Strengths:
  • Local production allows for fast order processing
  • Many regular customers who promote the business
  • Good ranking by search engines, allowing you to get free traffic
Weaknesses:
  • Prices for locally made T-shirts are uncompetitive
  • Higher costs mean fewer material options due to warehousing costs
  • Clients do not like to take measurements themselves
Possibilities:
  • Using technology to simplify the measurement process can increase sales
  • New paid advertising channels like Instagram and Pinterest can be effective
  • Buying clothes online is a trend nowadays.
Threats:
  • Several competitors are currently undercutting prices
  • Website is difficult to use mobile device, although mobile traffic is increasing
  • Strong dollar could dampen international sales

Consider what strategies a business owner can implement based on this information. Remember that there is no right or wrong answer here.

6 Examples of SWOT Analysis Strategies

The most important part of a SWOT analysis is how you use the information obtained. Here are six example problems (with potential solutions) to help you start thinking strategically.

Example 1: Your lease is nearing the end of its term and you need to renegotiate the terms. Since the price of the neighboring premises has risen, you are afraid that the same will happen to yours.

Strategy as a result of analysis: start selling online to reduce your space footprint.

Example 2: You rely on raw materials that are in high demand, and prices rise quickly as they become more scarce.

Strategy: Participate in a five-year contract to ensure delivery at a lower price.

Example 3: You have excess cash.

Strategy: Set aside a fixed amount for emergencies and invest the rest for growth.

Example 4: Your employees are ineffective.

Strategy: Hire a work culture consultant to help you understand the situation.

Example 5: Most of your website traffic comes from search engines. If the algorithm changes and your site stops ranking, you could lose a lot of new customers. You need to diversify your traffic.

Strategy: Start using other traffic sources such as social media or paid advertising.

Example 6: Your entire business fits on your laptop, and if it's stolen, you'll lose everything.

Strategy: Purchase a program to automatically back up your files on a daily basis.

Working through a SWOT analysis on a regular basis will prevent you from losing touch with your business, your team and your clients. More importantly, it will help you stay successful in an ever-changing market.

Once you have time to think about the most important things on your list, create an action plan and get to work!

SWOT analysis: what it is and examples of how to do it correctly

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Accordingly, the question “how to do a SWOT analysis” is of particular importance in the life of an entrepreneur. Today we will talk about how to do a SWOT analysis. Or rather, let's develop one step by step instructions- a questionnaire, after which the same question () will be completely closed for you.

First, let's look at what a SWOT analysis is (I apologize in advance to those for whom this is unnecessary). SWOT analysis is a tool for planning and comparing four business elements. These elements are: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. A correctly done SWOT analysis gives an entrepreneur a huge amount useful information necessary for making the right business decisions.

Learning to do swot analysis

SWOT analysis - 4-step instructions

For greater clarity, we will divide the SWOT analysis process into steps, each of which is represented by several questions. Answering these questions is, in essence, the process of conducting a SWOT analysis. So.

Step 1 — Scanning the business environment

In this step, by looking at our business environment, we must identify the factors that influence or may influence our business. All factors can be divided into internal and external. To determine these factors, answer the following questions:

1. What legal factors (laws and other regulations) affect (or may affect) my business?

2. What environmental factors affect (or could affect) my business?

3. What political factors affect (or may affect) my business?

4. What economic forces affect (or may affect) my business?

5. What geographic factors affect (or may affect) my business?

6. What social factors influence (or may influence) my business?

7. What technological factors affect (or may affect) my business?

8. What cultural factors influence (or may influence) my business?

9. What market factors affect (or may affect) my business?

The answers to the first 9 questions give you information about external factors, i.e., those impacts on your business that exist in your environment, regardless of the existence of your business. All of these questions, one way or another, are worth asking yourself in order to fully understand what could have any impact on your business. Of course, different factors will have different influences on different businesses spheres, but this is precisely what you will understand by answering these questions.

10. Does (or can it influence) the competition factor affect my business?

11. Does (or can it influence) the management and business management factor affect my business?

12. Does the chosen business strategy factor (or can it influence) my business?

13. Does the business structure factor affect (or can it affect) my business?

14. Does the employee factor affect (or can it affect) my business?

15. Does the factor of my business goals influence (or can influence) my business?

16. Does (or can it influence) the leadership factor affect my business?

17. Does the operational management factor affect (or can it affect) my business?

18. Does the technology factor in business affect (or can it affect) my business?

Answers to questions 10 to 18 will give you information about the overall impact of your business's entry into the market. The list may not be exhaustive; a lot depends on the field of activity, but these are the main points.

And so, having answered the above questions, you will have an almost complete set of factors on which your business depends to one degree or another. Next, you should analyze them and draw the right conclusions for yourself. In this regard, we move on to the next step of our instructions on how to do a SWOT analysis.

Step 2. Analysis of the business environment

In this step of the SWOT analysis, we must analyze in more detail all the factors listed above and understand what they actually represent for us and our business. Let's do this, as you guessed, in a few questions. Here they are:

19. Which legal factors could be a threat to our business and which could be an opportunity?

20. Which political factors could be a threat to our business and which could be an opportunity?

We present a simple and convenient method for conducting a SWOT analysis with ready-made examples for a manufacturing and trading enterprise, as well as a template in Excel format.

The SWOT analysis method described in the article is universal and is suitable for a company of any profile: an industrial company, a non-profit organization, a retail store or a separate department.

After reading the article, you will definitely be able to create a SWOT analysis for your product or an entire enterprise from scratch, even if you are conducting it for the first time.

Definition: SWOT analysis (from English SWOT Analysis) is a type of situational analysis that allows you to assess the current and future competitiveness of a company’s product on the market by analyzing the internal and external environment of the organization.

The essence and main elements of SWOT analysis

Briefly about the swot analysis method, we can say the following:

  • SWOT analysis technology is widely used in strategic management and management, as it is both a simple and high-quality tool for a company on the market.
  • The peculiarity of the method is that since the 1980s, SWOT analysis has been actively used to develop strategic decisions and has not lost its relevance throughout its existence in the toolkit of managers.
  • Why is SWOT analysis necessary? The purpose of the method is to study the current position of the company in the market and the correct structuring of information for the development of the enterprise.
  • Explanation of SWOT: S= Strengths, strengths of the product; W=Weaknesses, weaknesses of the product; O=Opportunities, company capabilities; T=Threats, threats to the company.

You can learn more about the theoretical foundations of SWOT analysis of a product in the article:.

How to prepare for a SWOT analysis?

Remember that the SWOT analysis method is only a convenient tool for systematizing available information. Therefore, an effective SWOT analysis must begin with two steps:

  • Conduct where the company operates, pay important attention to consumer research and identifying key characteristics. More than 70% of the SWOT analysis conclusions depend on who your company is and what quality criteria your consumer places on the product.
  • Swipe and . Determining the strengths and weaknesses of the product will depend on who your competitor is.

Step One: Identify the Product's Strengths and Weaknesses

The first step in conducting a SWOT analysis is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the product or service. To do this, make up comparative analysis internal resources of the company or product with key competitors:

  • Those parameters that turned out to be better than those of competitors are the strengths of your product.
  • Parameters that turned out to be worse than those of competitors are the weaknesses of your product

Table 1 Example of analysis of strengths and weaknesses

Strengths (S = Strengths) are internal characteristics of a company that provide a competitive advantage in the market or a more advantageous position in comparison with competitors.

Weaknesses (W=Weaknesses) or shortcomings of a product or service are internal characteristics of a company that impede business growth, prevent the product from leading the market, and are uncompetitive in the market.

  • Prioritize the level of influence of factors on the company's sales volume and profit.
  • Leave 6-8 key factors.
  • The rest may be useful in the future - take note of them.

Be sure to check out. The methodology contains more than 14 areas of various internal environmental factors that can become strengths or weaknesses of the company.

Step Two: Identify Threats and Opportunities for Business Growth

The second step of a SWOT analysis is to identify the opportunities and threats to the business's future growth. To do this, an analysis of external factors is carried out environment, the level of influence of each factor on the company’s sales and the likelihood of occurrence are assessed.

Company opportunities (O=Opportunities) are external environmental factors that will allow the company to increase sales or increase profits.

Company threats (T=Threats) are external environmental factors that may reduce sales or profit levels of the company in the future.

Illustrative examples of SWOT analysis

Most of the concepts and tools used in strategic planning are difficult to use for the first time without clear examples. For those who doubt the correctness of drawing up a SWOT analysis, we have prepared ready-made solutions:

  • : Includes a brief analysis of the key success factors and threats of the world's largest retail chain.
  • : contains detailed recommendations for conducting SWOT analysis in the trading industry.
  • - this is the most complete and step-by-step example, which will be useful to a greater extent to manufacturing companies and organizations.

Quantitative method of SWOT analysis

In modern literature, a quantitative example of SWOT analysis is often found: a model in which it is necessary to evaluate the analyzed factors of the external and internal environment on a point scale.

The quantitative approach is undoubtedly effective, as it allows us to demonstrate the significance of factors, but it is too time-consuming.

It would be more effective to evaluate each factor of the company’s internal and external environment in terms of importance and priority expertly, without resorting to complex quantitative scoring. The accuracy of this approach will be close to the quantitative method of assessment, since in both cases you yourself, and therefore expertly evaluate each factor of the SWOT matrix.

If after compiling a SWOT analysis you still have a free minute, we suggest you familiarize yourself with

Detailed video course

Four detailed video lectures on the SWOT analysis methodology provide concise and fully structured information on: how to make a SWOT analysis “from scratch”, how to find the strengths and weaknesses of a company’s product, identify opportunities and threats for a business, how to write the correct conclusions on SWOT analysis and effectively present the results of the work done.

Part one: SWOT analysis, determining the strengths and weaknesses of a product

Fully.

Ready-made samples, templates and cases

You can download a ready-made template - a sample of compiling a SWOT analysis from scratch in Excel, as well as an example of presenting the results of a SWOT analysis in PowerPoint format in the section.

Life forces us to make decisions every day. And every decision we make, one way or another, affects our future. Our fate for years and even decades depends on some decisions. To make any important decision, you need a thorough analysis of what is happening, this is necessary both in business and in everyday life. Qualitative analysis is a very difficult matter. And despite the fact that absolutely every person needs to be able to do it, this management function is not taught in school. Today we will talk about one of the most common methods of analysis - the SWOT method.

What is SWOT analysis

SWOT analysis is a method of primary assessment of the current situation based on considering it from four sides:

  • Strengths - strengths;
  • Weaknesses - weaknesses;
  • Opportunities - opportunities;
  • Threats – threats;

Strengths and weaknesses are your internal environment, what you already have at the current moment in time. Opportunities and threats are environmental factors, they may or may not happen, it also depends on your actions and decisions.

The acronym SWOT was first used at Harvard in 1963 at a conference on business policy by Professor Kenneth Andrews. In 1965, SWOT analysis was proposed to develop a company's behavior strategy.

SWOT analysis helps to create a structured description of a specific situation, based on this description, conclusions can be drawn. This allows you to make correct and informed decisions. SWOT analysis plays a significant role in business and should be mastered by everyone involved in personnel management and marketing.

Rules for conducting SWOT analysis

Before you begin drawing up a SWOT analysis, you need to understand a number of rules.

  1. Need to choose the most specific area of ​​research. If you choose an area that is too broad, the conclusions will be unspecific and less applicable.
  2. Clear separation of elementsSWOT. There is no need to confuse strengths and opportunities. Strengths and weaknesses are the internal characteristics of an organization that are within its control. Opportunities and threats associated with external environment and are not directly subject to the influence of the organization, the organization can only change its approach and adapt to them.
  3. Avoid subjectivity. It would be naive to rely on your opinion if the market does not agree with it. You may think your product is unique, but it's worth asking consumers about this first. Without them, your personal opinion has no meaning.
  4. Try use the opinions of as many people as possible. The larger the sample, the more accurate the research. Remember about?
  5. The most specific and precise formulations. I often ask my subordinates: “What do you need to do to earn more?” They almost always tell me that I need to work harder. This is not a specific formulation; it is not clear what specific actions a person should perform at what time.

Using these simple rules, you can proceed to compiling a SWOT matrix.

SWOT matrix

SWOT analysis is usually used by drawing a table, it is often called a SWOT matrix. This method of use does not depend on the global nature of the problem being solved. It doesn’t matter whether you’re deciding who to spend the weekend with or what business to invest your millions in, the essence and appearance SWOT analysis will remain unchanged. The SWOT matrix looks something like this:

The first line and first column are indicated simply for ease of understanding; they are not necessary to draw if you understand the SWOT analysis method well.

How to use SWOT analysis

So, you are faced with a certain task and you need to understand how to solve it. First of all, you need to draw a SWOT matrix. You can do this by dividing a sheet of paper into four parts. In each part you need to write as much available information as possible. It is advisable to write the more significant factors first, then move on to the less significant ones.

We analyze strengths and weaknesses

It is not surprising, but it is with the description of strengths that the most problems arise for people who take up SWOT analysis for the first time. In general, you can ask your employees, friends and acquaintances for help in assessing, but it is better to learn how to analyze yourself. Strengths and weaknesses are assessed using the same parameters.

In business, strengths are assessed primarily based on the following parameters:

  • Management and human resources in general. First of all, the competence and experience of the staff;
  • Having a clear system. Business processes and employee understanding of what to do;
  • Finance and access to money;
  • Clearly. This is a very important success factor; the lack of a sales department is a serious obstacle and a sink for other resources;
  • Reasonable marketing policy;
  • Availability of production costs.

When conducting a SWOT analysis of your personality, you can rely on the following criteria:

  • Education and knowledge;
  • Experience and your skills;
  • Social connections, useful contacts and other opportunities to use administrative resources;
  • Recognition and authority;
  • Availability of material resources;

When analyzing your strengths, you should focus on what you like to do and what you are good at. As a rule, what we don’t like turns out worse for us.

Analysis of opportunities and threats

Opportunities and threats are created by changes in the environment and those changes that you can make personally. It is worth noting that to analyze the external situation on the market, and even more so to predict the future market, you need to have serious qualifications. It is very difficult to predict what will happen and it is worth relying primarily on current facts and trends. At the same time, when making long-term planning, it is necessary to take into account the most pessimistic scenario for the development of the situation.

Opportunities and threats in business are primarily assessed according to the following parameters:

  1. Market trends. Increase or decrease in demand.
  2. Economic situation in the country. During years of economic growth, business, other things being equal, will grow in proportion to the growth of the economy, and vice versa.
  3. Competition, the absence of competitors today does not guarantee their absence tomorrow. The arrival of a major player in the market can turn the industry upside down.
  4. Infrastructure changes. Major changes to infrastructure can bring both benefits and losses.
  5. Legislation and political trends. Probably, in 2003, no one imagined that within 5 years all casinos would close.
  6. Technological revolutions. Progress inevitably destroys entire industries while creating new ones.

Every field of business has its own experts and professionals; to compile a high-quality SWOT matrix, you can turn to them for advice and expert opinion.

SWOT analysis methodology

So, we have a completed SWOT matrix that contains: strengths and weaknesses, as well as opportunities and threats. Based on this matrix, you need to work according to it. To do this, perform the following steps:

  1. It is necessary to rank all factors according to the degree of influence;
  2. All far-fetched and unimportant factors must be excluded;
  3. We analyze how your strengths can help you avoid threats and achieve opportunities;
  4. Let's see what impact your weaknesses can have on opportunities and threats;
  5. How strengths can help improve weaknesses;
  6. How can we reduce threats;

Based on the work done, you draw up the main vectors of development. SWOT analysis is primarily a tool for descriptive assessment of the situation. It does not analyze large amounts of analytics and does not compare indicators over past years. SWOT does not measure quantitatively the parameters. And that is why the SWOT method will always be a rather subjective analysis tool.

Application of SWOT analysis

The simplicity of SWOT analysis makes this tool very versatile; as we wrote above, it can be used both in life and in business. SWOT analysis is used both separately and in combination with other analysis and planning tools. SWOT analysis is most widely used in management, primarily for strategic planning of an organization's activities.

SWOT self-analysis

Separately, I would like to talk about the use of the SWOT analysis method to determine priorities in personal development. You can use this tool to determine goals both at work, for example, what area of ​​activity you should pursue, and in personal relationships.

I strongly recommend that middle and senior managers ask their subordinates to do a personal SWOT analysis at least once a year. It is also an excellent tool for determining management abilities when hiring a new employee. I first read this idea in Igor Mann’s book Number 1. Mann recommends giving SWOT to everyone who came for an interview.

The name of the analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats - SWOT analysis, comes from the abbreviation of the words:

Strengths- strengths, strengths;

Weaknesses- weaknesses;

Opportunities- possibilities;

Treats- threats.

SWOT analysis is a fairly simple and popular technique that allows you to assess the consequences of the decision you make, when making which you are guided by knowledge and understanding of the surrounding situation. And it doesn’t matter whether this decision lies in the field of marketing, choosing a company development strategy, or any of your decisions related to current activities, not even related to business.

So, using the WSOT method, you can analyze whether you (or your friend) should wear that blue dress that she bought in a boutique last month. When choosing a profession, or a particular company for employment, we evaluate our strengths and weaknesses, the opportunities offered in a new place, as well as the threats of changing jobs. As for marketing, in fact, every marketer involved in making strategic decisions owns this technique, to one degree or another.

Intuitively, we use SWOT analysis quite often, but few people independently bring such an assessment to its logical conclusion, stopping at a fundamental understanding of the situation and not delving into the analysis of marketing details.

The following are two of the simplest methods, the use of which will allow a novice entrepreneur to independently conduct a SWOT analysis. There are in-depth options for SWOT analysis. Their use requires a more careful approach, preparation and elaboration of details.

SWOT analysis methodology

In principle, everything is simple, the analysis is carried out according to the following scheme:

1. Expert formulation of your strengths and weaknesses- these are internal factors. Their basis is only you. If we are talking about a company, then these are the strengths and weaknesses that are inherent in the company. For an expert description of this, it is enough to use the results of an express survey of enterprise management.

Strengths and weaknesses must be assessed according to at least 3 vectors:

  • Management (condition, quality, motivation, qualifications)
  • Business processes
  • Finance

To analyze internal factors, I still suggest using a different model. For
When conducting an analysis of internal factors, we should pay attention to compliance with:

  • marketing activities of the company to its external environment;
  • the company's sales system and its adequacy to the marketing channel;
  • organization of production processes and adequacy of manufactured products to the market (for manufacturing companies);
  • organization of logistics processes and their adequacy to the marketing channel;
  • financial condition the company and its tasks;
  • administrative system and quality of business process administration;
  • management system, human resources management

2. We describe opportunities and threats- which are external factors, based on the situation outside the company, the company’s business environment.

There is no need to invent threats, they are always the same. It is enough to assess the typical potential threats for your company (for you).

There are threats:

  • social;
  • economic;
  • technological;
  • political;
  • environmental;
  • competition.

3. We rank the strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats according to the degree of influence on the company, throwing out the far-fetched.

4. We put everything into the SWOT matrix (in a table).

5. Analyze the effect of factors

6. Having finished with the description and marketing analysis,define a strategy, based on the results of the description above, using the strengths, and compensating for the weaknesses of your (company).

SWOT Matrix

All data is summarized in one table consisting of 4 main fields: strength, weakness,
opportunities and threats. Such a table is also called a SWOT analysis matrix.

Analyzing the effect of factors

Actually, what we have compiled above is not yet a SWOT analysis, but only a form (matrix) for a convenient description of the sides, opportunities and threats. Analysis is a conclusion about how much your “strengths” will help realize the company’s capabilities in achieving certain planned goals.

Let’s try to rearrange what has been summarized in the table and answer the questions:

Possibilities ( ABOUT) Threats ( T)
Strengths ( S)

We correlate “strength” and “opportunities”,
and figure out how “force” can provide
company capabilities.
1. .......

2. .......

3. .......

Let’s compare “power” and “threats” and figure it out
how "force" can eliminate
threats to the company

1. .......

2. .......

3. .......

(don’t be shy, describe it in words)

Weaknesses ( W)

By listing the “weaknesses”, we describe
how much weaknesses interfere
use
listed opportunities

1. .......

2. .......

3. .......

(don’t be shy, describe it in words)

By listing the “weaknesses”, we describe
the most unpleasant thing for the company:
how much are your weaknesses?
will lead to the onset of those threats
which you listed.

1. .......

2. .......

3. .......

(don’t be shy, describe it in words)

SWOT Analysis Strategies Matrix

Next comes the most interesting part, the reason why everything was started. Based on the results of the analysis, we use the results of the SWOT analysis to develop certain strategy vectors along which we will work. The company, as a pravvilo, works in several directions (vectors) at once:

  • We realize our strengths;
  • We correct the company’s weaknesses and use its strengths;
  • We take measures to compensate for threats.

Analyzing the data in the table, we draw up a matrix of necessary actions to correct the company’s weaknesses, including at the expense of the strengths. We bring all the data into one table (matrix) consisting of 4 main fields: strength, weakness, opportunities and threats. This table is called: “SWOT Analysis Strategies Matrix”.

Analyzing the data located in the table, a list of possible actions (marketing plan) is compiled to neutralize the company’s weaknesses, including at the expense of the strengths. Also, possible options for the company’s development when external factors change, ways to use strengths to reduce risks, etc. are being developed.

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